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Ernesto de la Cruz
: Ernesto: "Security? Take care of Miguel. He’ll be extending his stay." : Miguel: "What?! But I’m your family!" : Ernesto: "And Hector was my best friend. Success doesn’t come for free, Miguel. You have to be willing to do what it takes to... seize your moment. I know you understand." : ―Ernesto revealing his true nature to Miguel after admitting his murder of Héctor. Ernesto de la Cruz is the main antagonist of the Disney/Pixar film, Coco. He was a famous singer and musician who dazzled audiences with his good looks and his charm and was a source of Mexican pride. After his untimely death, his soul resides in the Land of the Dead. Trapped in this extraordinary realm, Miguel goes on a quest to find Ernesto, whom he believes is his long-lost great-great-grandfather. However, Miguel discovers a very different story to his heritage than what he expected. History : “''He started out a total nobody from Santa Cecilia, like me. But when he played music, he made people fall in love with him. He starred in movies. He had the coolest guitar. He could fly! And he wrote the best songs!” : ―Miguel, about de la Cruz Born in 1896, Ernesto was an up-and-coming musician from the town of Santa Cecilia. He started his musical career as a guitarist with his childhood friend Héctor as his songwriter. As the two were on tour across Mexico however, Héctor felt remorse about leaving his wife and daughter behind and intended to quit his career to go back to them. Ernesto tried to convince him to change his mind, and when his attempts failed, Ernesto seemingly accepted Héctor's decision and shared a toast of tequila with him as he would move "heaven and earth" for his friend. Unbeknownst to Héctor, however, Ernesto had poisoned the drink - as the two walked down the street, Héctor succumbed to the poison and died. Taking the opportunity, Ernesto took his songbook and guitar as his own. With Héctor's songs, Ernesto became a musical legend across the country and a star of renowned films. Winning crowds with his noble appearance, Ernesto was revered as a symbol of Mexico's passion and pride, all the while leaving no-one the wiser of the true circumstances of his fame. In 1942, Ernesto performed the song "Remember Me" at a concert among millions of his fans. As he finished the song on a high note, the backstage hand was distracted and accidentally pulled the lever for the stage's bell; Ernesto, being right under the bell at the moment, was crushed by it and killed instantly. His body was laid to rest in a tomb back in Santa Cecilia, while his spirit was sent to the Land of the Dead. Ernesto's memory carried on in the public, thus he has retained his reputation in the Land of the Dead, regularly performing for the dead citizens (particularly, putting on a Sunrise Spectacular at the end Dia de los Muertos) and living out his afterlife in his massive mansion, throwing parties and with an arsenal of security guards at his disposal. Official Description : ''Ernesto de la Cruz is Miguel's idol and the most famous musician in the history of Mexico. Revered by fans worldwide until his untimely death, the charming and charismatic musician is even more beloved in the Land of the Dead. Development In earlier drafts of the film, Ernesto de la Cruz was intended to be a full-fledged villain similarly to Hopper and Chick Hicks. He was originally born in 1885 and and was originally crushed to death during his performance of "Remember Me" in 1953. After the original idea was screened, it was scrapped and Ernesto was redesigned to appear as a less villainous figure - he was given a grandfatherly appearance and charming personality to make his true nature more unsuspecting. Personality At first glance, Ernesto presents himself as a charming, suave, wise, and sensible individual who encouraged others to follow their dreams no matter what, making him seem like a positive role model to many individuals in the living world. However, it is later revealed that Ernesto was actually selfish and desperate in life to the point of being a rank opportunist. His ambition drove him to murdering his best friend Héctor, who wanted to return home to his family, and subsequently steal his songbook and guitar to achieve fame and glory. He was even arrogant enough to hide this secret in one of his films, which led to his exposure and eventual downfall. Leaving behind a profound legacy after his death, Ernesto was determined to maintain this, and was willing to go to malicious lengths to keep his image alive. Even Miguel, a boy who greatly idolized him and supposedly his own blood, was seen as a liability to the extent that he would resort to murdering the child to hide his secret, with no remorse whatsoever for his heinous acts; staring coldly after Miguel when he sent him falling to his death and gave the helpless Héctor (Miguel's true ancestor) a cruel apology. While Miguel, Héctor, and Imelda had great passions for music and, despite flaws, an ardent value in family, de la Cruz had none of these qualities; only using music to gain popularity and willing to kill or use those he had close relationships with to get it. As such, he is a dark parallel to Héctor and of what Miguel might have become if he had followed Ernesto's path. When his actions were revealed and his former fans turned on him, Ernesto could only be silently distraught to realize he had lost everything he worked for as he was condemned for his vile nature. Trivia *He seemed to have familiarity with Imelda, possibly having come in contact with her before he and Héctor left Santa Cecilia. *There are several easy-to-miss signs that foreshadow Ernesto's true colors and hint that he is not Coco's father: **In the Rivera family portrait, although Imelda's husband wore an outfit similar to Ernesto's, the belt buckle had two guitars on it. Ernesto's belt buckle does not have this emblem, but rather the symbol of a bull's head. The faceless man in the photo also has a slimmer build compared to Ernesto, which means that he is not interchangeable with the musician for whom Miguel initially has admiration. **Ernesto is genuinely shocked when Miguel first calls him his great-great-grandfather. This implies that Ernesto never married but had several affairs and, given the time period and culture in which he lived, was worried about his reputation getting ruined by the accidental conception of a child outside wedlock. **Héctor states that Ernesto wasn't very talented. This is proven true when the latter states in the flashback that he can't succeed without Héctor's songs. ***The novelization gives a hint in one of the flashback chapters. Ernesto convinces Héctor to go on a series of tours throughout Mexico. During their performances, Héctor notices that Ernesto’s singing and playing style shifts between happy and half-hearted depending on the audience size, and realizes that his partner cares more about attention than about the art behind music. **Ernesto speaks casually when saying that he needs to get Miguel home, rather than with concern. As he prepares to give the blessing, Ernesto also states he hopes for Miguel to "die very soon". The first action foreshadows Ernesto's lack of authentic compassion while the second action foreshadows the lengths to which he is willing to go in order to avoid being exposed or upstaged. ***In addition, the petal does not glow when Ernesto starts to give his blessing. Since only a family member could send Miguel back to the Land of the Living, this shows that they are not related. ****Even though a Q&A stated that a person doesn't have to be a blood relative to give a blessing, just someone that can be thought of as a family, the fact that the petal did not glow shows of the implication that both sides must be mutual that they think each other as a family. It's a hint that while Miguel views Ernesto as his family, Ernesto only views Miguel as a disposable vehicle to fame. **Frida Kahlo says that Ernesto never shows up to rehearsals, preferring instead to host parties in his mansion, which again demonstrates how he prioritizes attention over music and fans. **When Miguel asks Ernesto how he felt about leaving his family, the latter gives a vague response that it was "hard" but he had to follow his dreams. Ernesto does not mention a wife or a daughter, let alone Imelda or Coco. **Miguel's family does not object to Miguel mentioning Ernesto, even though they object to him referencing Coco's father. Furthermore, when Miguel declares Ernesto to be his great-great-grandfather, the family claims that it is "impossible". *** Whenever Miguel's family talks about Coco's father, it is mentioned that he was forgotten and left off the ofrenda. Ernesto, on the other hand, is remembered by many people, both living and dead. This is the most obvious hint that Ernesto is not Miguel's great-great-grandfather. *Despite getting crushed a second time, Ernesto is likely not permanently dead due to already being dead, as Coco's director Lee Unkrich confirmed. Furthermore, although he was apparently forgotten for a year before the film's epilogue, Unkrich has also confirmed that Ernesto is still remembered for his movies and his story as the one who stole Héctor's guitar and his songs and murdered him, albeit permanently disgraced. * When Hector was about to leave Ernesto, Ernesto immediately offered a drink that had a poison which kills Hector. However, there was no preparation of Ernesto poisoning the alcohol shown. This indicates that the alcohol had already been poisoned prior. It can be explained that Ernesto may have gotten the poison while on the tour. And since he and Hector had been touring for some time, there are indications that they argued over it constantly, with Ernesto managing to talk him out of it while making contingency plans (including having the poison on hand) to kill him if he insisted on leaving. So when Hector finally decided to go home and ignored Ernesto's pleas, that was when Ernesto snapped and poisoned him. Category:Male Category:Characters Category:Antagonists